Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps have been taken to date to improve coordination across Government departments through the Fusion Doctrine; and in which departments and under which co-ordinating ministers is the work being done to ensure that the UK has the relevant staff and private sector engagement to prevent and respond to hybrid threats.

The new national security doctrine, the Fusion Doctrine, builds on the creation and early years of the National Security Council (NSC), embeds the lessons from the Chilcot report and supports a whole-of-government approach to national security.

All NSC and NSC(Officials) meetings now use the Fusion Doctrine framework as a guide for the discussions. It is the responsibility of designated Senior Responsible Officials (SRO) to implement the Government’s strategy and coordinate across the whole of government.

Protecting the UK from hybrid threats is a whole-of-government effort. A range of Government departments (including the Cabinet Office, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Ministry of Defence), working with the relevant parts of the private sector prepare for, prevent and respond to hybrid threats. The Government’s overall approach is overseen by the NSC and through sub-committees such as the NSC for Threats, Hazards, Resilience and Contingencies.